National ranking for UH Manoa information technology infrastructure

UH Manoa has been ranked in two national ratings of information technology infrastructure in higher education. Manoa is tied for 44th in The Princeton Review's current ranking of the country‘s "Most Connected Campuses" and placed 37th in the recent Intel-sponsored ranking of the "Most Unwired College Campuses."

"Technology is one of the core commitments of our Strategic Plan," said UH Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert. "We still have a ways to go, but it is heartening to see how we can achieve meaningful progress that is recognized nationally when we work together to focus our efforts."

To create their "Most Connected Campus" list, The Princeton Review looked at the technological sophistication of 351 leading U.S. colleges. The rating included responses from more than 100,000 college students as well as data from campus administrators. Other criteria included the student/computer ratio, wireless access on campus, and the breadth of the computer science curriculum.

The "Most Unwired College Campuses" survey findings, sponsored by Intel, are based on the number of wireless access "hotspots" on campus, the number of undergraduates, number of computers and the computer to student ratio. The results were also based on the percentage of each college campus that is covered by wireless technology. The data was collected from university interviews and records, and a variety of industry resources.

University of Hawaiʻi Chief Information Officer David Lassner noted that, "UH Manoa‘s progress with wireless is the result of incredible cooperation among many campus units and external supporters."

Individual units such as the library, the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), the Law School and the College of Business Administration have funded substantial installations of wireless capability in their buildings. A private donation from the Pepsi Bottling Company supported the installation of wireless capability in the Manoa Campus Center; support from Barry Weinman of Allegis Capital helped enhance the campus-wide infrastructure. UH Information Technology Services (ITS) has implemented a campus-wide security and access framework that ties all this together in a secure and coherent wireless service for all Manoa students and faculty.

Additional information on the Web:http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/02/cx_dd_1002campus.html